Local Government Autonomy unrealistic under current law – Fashola

As calls for local government autonomy grow louder across Nigeria, former Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola, has argued that such autonomy is not feasible under the country’s current constitutional framework.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise programme on Saturday, Fashola maintained that local governments were not originally designed to function independently, given the extent of state-level influence embedded in the Constitution.

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“I think that the debate we must have is whether we really want autonomous local governments,” he said. “As it stands today, it is unrealistic to expect autonomy for local governments created by the Constitution.”

According to the former Minister of Power, Works, and Housing, the legislative powers granted to state Houses of Assembly over local government activities run contrary to the concept of autonomy.

“If you look at the legal and ordinary meaning of the word ‘autonomy’, it suggests that you are acting independently without any outside influence and authority.

And to the extent that the state House of Assembly makes laws for how local governments function, that alone contradicts the idea of autonomy,” Fashola explained.

He further pointed out that land, a critical asset for implementing local government responsibilities such as building roads, schools, health centres, and managing cemeteries and abattoirs, is under the control of state governments.

This, he argued, places further restrictions on the independence of local councils.

In his view, what was intended by the drafters of the Constitution was a structure of collaboration and oversight rather than full independence.

He referenced Section 162, which provides for the joint state-local government account, as evidence of this intended supervisory relationship.

Fashola also gave historical context to the creation of the joint account system, revealing that before 1999, local governments directly accessed funds from the Federation Account.

However, many failed to meet basic obligations, such as paying salaries of teachers and healthcare workers.

This led to mounting debts, some of which persisted when he assumed office as governor of Lagos.

“In the advent of the democratic era, it was found out that there were so many of them, or not a few of them, who had defaulted in the very basic obligation of paying staff salaries, primary healthcare workers, primary school teachers, salaries and pensions,” he said.

“That is partly the history behind the creation of the state joint local government account to ensure that there was some supervision.”

He admitted, however, that the supervisory role played by state governments has, in some cases, become as problematic as the mismanagement the system was designed to prevent.

On the recent Supreme Court ruling in July 2024, which barred governors from dissolving elected local government councils and granted them financial autonomy, Fashola said the judgment has sparked mixed reactions among legal professionals.

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While acknowledging that no patriot would claim that all is well with Nigeria’s local government system, he cautioned that the ruling might not stand up to constitutional scrutiny.

He nonetheless praised the conduct of local government elections as a positive step toward strengthening grassroots governance and possibly paving the way for more independent local councils in the future.